What is in the PowerPC pipeline? Your guess.

macrumors 68040

I rarely start new threads, but I thought this would be fun. I watched Steve's keynote and 3 times I heard him say, "We still have some real exciting upgraded products in the PowerPC pipeline." I am one to think he is just blowing hot air since it would be pointless to mess with a dead platform at this time, but somehow they still have to move systems over the next year or two...so here is my guess...

Powerbook G4 will see one more improvement before it goes to Intel. I think the 7448 Freescale should be ready soon. Speeds of 1.6-1.8Ghz on a 200Mhz FSB.

iBooks will get one more bump. 7447a 1.33 or 1.42 and 1.5Ghz on a 167Mhz FSB. Will also get a better video card. Same with Mac Mini.

iMac G5's will probably see at least one more if not 2 speed bumps. Next one will most likely be 2Ghz and 2.3Ghz

PowerMacs will FINALLY see 3Ghz before they are scrapped. Even though Steve is REAL late on this promise, I think he will still want to show it was possible.

eMacs will continue on with a possible minor bump.

My guess is that all G4 products will get the Intel chip first. Pentium M. Then they will phase out the G5 sometime later using an Intel desktop processor.

macrumors member

My guess will be that all portables will get the Intel chip first. Pentium M.

What do you think?

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I believe the WSJ article mentioned that the Mini would be the first to have Intel chips.

I think speed bumps are the only thing coming. I just hope they don't let any of the products feel the Osborne effect and come up with something that makes buying the last revision of the product worthwhile.

macrumors 601

You're probably right with most of that. I would expect that the iBook gets a last push with something close to the specs you mentioned, and a 64mb 5200go or something. The mini will get whatever the iBooks get.

The iMac G5 will see probably just one upgrade, then they will release a new form factor with the first Intel iMac. Powerbooks will get a speed bumb, and a price drop to help encourage sales, and then probably be the first portables to get an Intel, along with some cosmetic changes.

The mini will get the Intels first, as mentioned. I would be willing to bet they go with a 1.8-2ghz Celeron M or something similar. It'll be pretty fast, and probably stay in the $550 +/- 50 range. More ram and a bigger HDD of course. GPU will HOPEFULLY be something NICE. Maybe a 128mb ati9800, at least. Seeing as it is a year away, that is the LEAST I would hope for.

I'm looking forward to the first Pentium M portable. They should arrive just as I am ready to upgrade, and my wife can inherit this iMac and I will get a 15" PowerBook with a 3ghz CPU, 256mb VRAM, and a 160gb HD. Maybe a Blu-Ray burner, too?

macrumors 6502

it's a whole year until the intel minis are expected so there's time for a significant update.........bet they could sell lots of G5 minis for around $699 to $799

would you buy one for that price???

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Not with a laptop hard disk in it. I was pretty disappointed by the Mini's specs.

I don' think we'll see a G5 mini. The mini is made to hit a price point, and the G5 CPU isn't. The buyer for the mini cares more about its looks than its performance. Apple might give it a bump if better CPUs become available, otherwise it will stay the same until a similar Intel Celeron-based machine replaces it.

I'm not sure there's room in the mini for a G5 and its associated cooling gear.

* PowerMac - harder to predict, my guess is to dual dual-core G5s, though what the MHz would be I have no idea. Since these have to last to the end of 2006, I'd expect at least two more revisions here.

thread startermacrumors 68040

I read something on one of the sites today where Freescale said it would be providing Apple with faster g4 chips for a new round of laptop upgrades.

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Yeah the 7448 should be ready to go for a Powerbook by fall. Nothing real exciting, but should be a nice improvement over the current models. It should clock around 1.8Ghz with 1MB L2 Cache and a 200Mhz FSB. It is pin for pin compatible, so you will probably see this as a decent attempt to keep a few people buying.

macrumors newbie

Dont want to be overly cynical here, but isnt there the possibility that the PPC range will be intentionally kept slow, so that the difference between the intels running rosetta-code and ppc's running native code is minimal.

No point jacking up the ppcs just to put pressure on rosetta and embarass the future product line. After a 2 year wait, and all the upheaval, the top-line intels are going to have to show some significant advantages to justify all this.

* PowerMac - harder to predict, my guess is to dual dual-core G5s, though what the MHz would be I have no idea. Since these have to last to the end of 2006, I'd expect at least two more revisions here.

thread startermacrumors 68040

at what speed did the powermacs start using liquid cooling? granted they use dual processors, but I wonder if there is a limit to what kind of G5 they'll be able to put into the imac...

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It might be easier to cool a single higher clocked like a 2.5 with air then a dual model as well. We know that a 2.3 will run air cooled so by fall that will come. There is a chance as well, we will see more speed bumps in the next year or two, even if they are very small, to keep some interest in the PowerPC line. To do this however, Freescale will have to get the 7448 out the door and IBM will have to keep pumping the G5. You should see the G4 line end with 1.8-2.0Ghz and the G5 line end with 3.0-3.2Ghz, that is if Apple is interested in doing anything with these models until the Macintels come out. My guess is they will be forced to provide a little incentive for people to purchase with improvements and price reductions.

A 17" iMac G5 2.3Ghz with a 250MB HD @ $999-1099 would capture some attention even with the Macintels around the corner.

macrumors 68000

at what speed did the powermacs start using liquid cooling? granted they use dual processors, but I wonder if there is a limit to what kind of G5 they'll be able to put into the imac...

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Hmm, well, maybe the G5 iMac will only get to 2.3GHz - although I wonder if a single processor could still use fan/blower cooling at higher speeds vs. the duals in the G5? Guess we'll see in the next revision, though I'm buying my 2GHz 17" now before its relegated to the bottom end of the line. I hate how Apple always cripples its entry-level machine in every lineup in some bizarre way: entry-level iMacs only have a combo drive with no BTO option, entry-level PowerMacs have a crippled (less than 50% processor speed) FSB for no apparent reason, for example.

macrumors regular

I think he ment Centrino... Anyway, I personally would settle for either a speed bumped and (slightly) price slashed 15" PB, or a 14" iBook at the same price point with a better GPU and a speed bump. It would be nice to get a better graphics chip in the PB but for my purposes the MR9700 is fine. Also, the main thing that has me rooting for the PB is the backlit keyboard! I LOVE that thing!

macrumors 6502

I think this is the advantage apple can take to get a big chunk of the low-end market. If theyr'e using a Pentium class (or whatever it's called by then) chip in their $499 computer, they can use that as an argument over why theirs is better.

Currently, the G4 has trouble keeping up with some of its competitors (Namely AMD's) low end chip. The Sempron 3100+ is quite fast.

macrumors regular

entry-level PowerMacs have a crippled (less than 50% processor speed) FSB for no apparent reason

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I think that their reason is to cut production costs and to increase yields. I'm sure that its easier to produce a bunch of motherboards with a 667Mhz bus than it is to make them with a 1Ghz bus... not to mention cheaper too!

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